R.I. at WHS? That was “Religious Instruction” not “Religious Information”, no?

“Instruction” gives the game away of course. That is TELLING you HOW to DO something. We were instructed into how to do Christianity. There was no question of any OTHER faith being valid: “Nisi Dominus Vanum” was the proof. I do not recall any mention of any other religion: not those of the ancient South American tribes, or indeed Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and so on, or indeed WHY so many humans have ALWAYS believed in unprovable God(s) ..... which was a shame.

The bottom line? There is ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF WHATSOEVER of the existence of extra-terrestrial beings that would stand up in a proper court of law. Humans believe in “God” as the only way to:

1) explain the extraordinary and otherwise totally inexplicable miracle (in the non-religious sense) of our existence and
2) to soften the fact that we all die forever and totally.

The above is a personal view, but I believe it to be rational. Jesus Christ, however, WAS “the perfect human” in contrast to the narcissistic, pedophile, misogynist, anti-Semitic, bigoted, homophobic, slave-owning and mass-murdering psychopath worshipped as such by over 2 billion Muslims. The story and example of Jesus are the most beautiful manifestations of “The Human Spirit”, even if in later centuries many who called themselves Christians totally perverted his actual example: not least the Spanish Inquisition, or indeed English kings who routinely chopped people’s heads off.

As for R.I. at WHS, I only remember having G.H.B. I really liked him as Head, but I can’t remember a thing he taught us, and for him I can’t imagine it being a lot of fun. And did we have it for the full FIVE years of the Lower School? I don't remember!

Finally, I will never forget Jim Hyde telling me in a heartfelt lament while we were watching a match up on Church Field one day that he could never be a Headmaster because he could not subscribe to the Christian faith and would therefore be unable to lead assemblies. I can’t remember how we got onto the subject but I guessed (much later) that he had just been turned down for a Headship somewhere. We’ll never know. He would have been a very capable headmaster.